The invention relates to a curve-negotiating chain conveyor, particularly to a plate conveyor, whose individual chain link members are connected together in the manner of a hinge by means of interengaging hinge eyes via a hinge bolt, with the hinge bolt having cylindrical ends and an approximately barrel-shaped center section.
A chain conveyor of the above-mentioned type is known from DE-AS No. 2,264,865. However, the barrel-shaped center section of the hinge bolt in the prior art chain conveyor has a circular cross section over its entire length from the center toward both ends, with merely the diameters decreasing by a fixed measure toward the cylindrical ends to produce the given curve negotiating capability. The joint formed by such a hinge bolt between two chain link members, for example the plates of a plate conveyor, has not only a pivoting capability about the bolt axis, but also a pivotal mobility about all axes perpendicular to the bolt axis. Two adjacent plate members can be pivoted with respect to each other not only in their common plane perpendicular to the bolt axis, as defined by the guide path, but they can additionally be pivoted with respect to each other perpendicularly to the guide plane and perpendicularly to the bolt axis. If such a plate conveyor is guided through a curve in one plane, it cannot be avoided that, under the influence of the pulling forces acting on it in the curve region, the outer edge of the conveyor is pivoted upwardly with respect to its inner edge and thus the outer edge of the article being conveyed through the curve comes to lie higher than its inner edge. Such an inclined conveyor surface, however, is disadvantageous for a number of applications, for example in filling systems employing lightweight and smooth-surfaced containers, since in the curve region the containers may slide off the inside edge of the conveyor. This drawback occurs not only in the above-described plate conveyors, but also in plate link chains designed to be able to negotiate curves.